Half to d



Nrran STATES ATENT OFFICE..

HALF TO D. KELSEY,

OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

CORSET.

.tra GIFXCATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 346,416, dated duty27, 1886.

Application filed November Q5, IBSS.

To all 'L1/7mm, it may concern.-

Beit known that I, CHARLEs F. Rrrcncr., a citizen of the United States,residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State ofConnecticut, have invented new and useful Improvements in Corsets, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention consists of an improved adjusting contrivance Vfor ladiescorsets or stays, to enable them to be relaxed in the tension, and to betaken up or tightened again'at the will ofthe wearer by simpleoperations ot' very effective and substantial devices capable of moreconvenient manipulation by the wearer than as heretofore arranged, andindependently of the fastenings employed at the front for theapplication and removal of the corset, and of the back-stays, whichmaybe employed t0- gether with my improved adjuster', or not, aspreferred, as hereinafter fully described, reference being made to theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure Yl is a front elevation of acorset in which my improvement is represented, the arrangement ofthesame being at the front of one side of the corset and at the side in theother side of the corset. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation ofthe corseton line e a' of Fig..1.

Anywhere betweenV the sides or hips and the front wherein the latter'position-the usual joint of steels a and clasps t) is provided I providean extension-adjuster to each side, consisting of the steel bars c,hooks or eyes d, and lacing-eords c, adapted, substantially as shown,for adjusting` the tension ofthe corset at will by taking up and lettingout the laeings-that is to say, using steel strips or bars c for eachadjuster` of about the same character as the steels a ofthe front joint.I [it them with, preferably, the same number of lacing hooks, studs, oreyes d as there are clasps b, and coincident with them, and arrange thelacing-cord e to draw from each end of the strips when the ends of thecord are respect- 5 ively fastened through the middle eye of one of thestrips, and to fasten readily on hooks or studs f of the front strips,a,where the said adjusting-cords can at any time be readily reached andmanipulated by unfastening two Serial No. 153,901. (No model.)

or three ofthe hooks of the dress at the front opening of the same.

My invention is distinguished from the breast-pu lf contrivanee, whichaffords more or less adj ustability for adaptation to the breasts, butnone whatever for the waist, for which mine is especially designed, theobject being to enable the wearer to readily shift the adjuster toregulate the tension according to the varying conditions ofthe bodywhile the eorset is in use, as after a hearty meal, or bloating` fromother cause, and the subsidence of the same. lt is also distinguishedfrom the ordinary lacing at the back, which is to be used all the sametogether with my adjuster for its especial purpose-viz., to adapt thecorset to the average size of the wearer, but cannot be employed for anadjuster while the corset is in wear, because the eyes or hooks throughwhich the lacingcords run must be within reach for enabling the cords tobe adj usted in the individual eyes for an even tension.

My invention is a lacing-adjuster forming the sole connection betweenthe corset-web and the front clasp-steel, in which therange ofthelacing-cord may vary to any unlimited extent between the different eyesor hooks, as may be needed to graduate the tension of the corset to theirregular shape of the body, particularly when thc lacing is locatedbetween the hips and the arms along the sides.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a corset having the usual claspihstening at the front, atension-adjuster in each side, located at or between the hip-section andthe said front fastening', and consisting` of the steels t', hooks oreyes d, and a laeingcord, e, in combination with studsf at the front ofthe corset for fastening' the cords thereat, substatitially asdescribed.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

CHARLES F. RITCHEL.

